When you have a specific name to look up, Rush County arrest records live in two separate systems that serve different purposes. Court filings — criminal dockets, charge sheets, and case dispositions — are searchable online through Indiana’s statewide MyCase portal. Booking records generated by the Rush County Sheriff’s Office sit on the law-enforcement side and require a separate records request. The Rush County Clerk of Courts is located at 101 East 2nd Street, Rushville, IN 46173 — inside the Rush County Courthouse — and is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Clerk accepts credit card payments for many transactions; confirm the current records-request fee before visiting.
If someone you know was just booked tonight, our Rush County inmate-search page has phone-first contact info.
If your person has a history in other states
A Rush County MyCase search covers Indiana court filings, but records that pre-date the portal’s online window — or arrests made in other states under a different name or alias — won’t appear there. A nationwide criminal database search may help surface those gaps. Run a preliminary scan below; a full report requires creating an account.
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How to look up arrest records in Rush County
Criminal docket, booking record, charge sheet, disposition — each of these document types lives in a different system, and knowing which one you need determines where you go first.
Criminal docket (court-side): The Indiana MyCase portal is the fastest no-cost path for court records. Search by name or case number. Rush County Circuit Court (case numbers beginning with 18C) and Rush County Superior Court both publish docket entries here. You’ll see charges filed, hearing dates, attorney of record, and case disposition when one has been entered. MyCase reflects what the Clerk has entered into the court’s case management system — portal updates may lag behind same-day courtroom activity, so a very recent filing may not appear immediately.
Booking record (Sheriff-side): The Rush County Sheriff’s Office maintains booking records generated at the time of arrest. These are separate from court filings and include the booking number, arrest date, arresting agency, and charges as listed at intake. Submit a public records request directly to the Sheriff’s Office under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act. Confirm current request procedures and any applicable fees by contacting the Sheriff’s Office — no verified phone number is published in the current official dataset, so check the Sheriff’s contact page before calling.
Charge sheet and case filing (Clerk-side): The Rush County Clerk of Courts holds the official case file, including the charging information and any filed documents. Visit the Clerk in person at 101 East 2nd Street, Rushville, IN 46173, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The Clerk accepts credit card payments; call ahead to confirm the current per-page copy fee. For detailed file inspections, calling in advance to schedule an appointment is practical — walk-in requests for large files can take time to pull.
Disposition (what happened after arrest): Dispositions — guilty plea, conviction at trial, dismissal, acquittal — appear on the MyCase docket once the Clerk enters the judgment. If a case was dismissed or the person was acquitted, that outcome will show on the docket. Note that a dismissal or acquittal triggers automatic expungement under Indiana law, though the order takes effect no sooner than 60 days after entry.
Rushville Police Department arrests: Arrests made by the Rushville Police Department are booked through the Rush County Jail and will appear in the Sheriff’s booking records. The Rushville PD serves the county seat; Indiana State Police handle patrol in unincorporated areas of Rush County.
Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) records: If the person you’re researching served time in a state facility, the Indiana Department of Correction offender search covers IDOC-managed facilities. This is a separate system from the county jail and the court docket. Rush County Circuit Court can be reached at 765-932-2078 and Rush County Superior Court at 765-932-3520 if you need to confirm case status by phone.
Are Rush County arrest records public?
Does Indiana law actually make arrest records available to anyone who asks — or are there meaningful limits?
The answer is mostly yes, with defined exceptions. Ind. Code § 5-14-3 — Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act — establishes that booking records, including booking photos, are generally open to the public. Any person can request them from the Rush County Sheriff’s Office or the Rush County Clerk without stating a reason. That openness is the default rule, not the exception.
Sealed and expunged records are the primary carve-out. Once a Rush County court grants an expungement petition under Indiana’s Second Chance Law, the record is removed from public view. MyCase will no longer display it, and the Clerk is prohibited from disclosing it to the public. Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records for their own purposes, but a background check run by a private party should not surface a properly expunged arrest.
Juvenile records carry a separate protection. Arrests of individuals under 18 are generally not public records in Indiana. The juvenile court system operates under confidentiality rules distinct from the adult criminal system, and those records do not appear on MyCase public searches.
Victim-protection redactions apply in certain case types. Identifying information for victims of sex offenses and domestic violence cases may be withheld from public copies of court documents, even when the underlying case record is otherwise accessible.
Federal arrest records are an important gap. Arrests made by federal agencies — FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals — are not in Indiana’s state court system and will not appear on MyCase or in Rush County Sheriff records. Federal criminal cases are filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The federal court’s public access system, PACER (pacer.gov), is the correct path for federal case records. Rush County’s local portals have no visibility into federal proceedings.
What’s in a Rush County arrest record?
Six core fields appear on nearly every Rush County booking record generated by the Sheriff’s Office at intake.
The booking number is the Sheriff’s internal identifier assigned at the time of arrest. It ties the booking record to the jail’s intake log and is distinct from the court case number assigned later by the Clerk. If you’re requesting records from the Rush County Courthouse, the court case number (formatted as 18C01-YYMM-XXXX for Circuit Court matters) is what the Clerk’s system uses — the booking number alone won’t pull a court file.
The full legal name and date of birth appear on both the booking record and the court docket. Spelling variations and aliases are sometimes noted in the booking record but may not carry over to the court filing. If you’re searching MyCase and not finding a result, try alternate spellings or a date-of-birth search.
The arrest date and arresting agency establish when and by whom the arrest was made. Rush County arrests may be made by the Sheriff’s Office, the Rushville Police Department, or Indiana State Police — all of whom book through the Rush County Jail.
The charges at booking reflect what the arresting officer listed at intake. These are not necessarily the charges the prosecutor ultimately files. The formal charge sheet — the Information or Indictment — is a separate document filed by the Rush County Prosecutor’s Office with the Clerk. The two can differ, and the court docket controls for legal purposes.
The disposition, when available, shows the outcome: guilty plea, conviction, acquittal, or dismissal. Dispositions appear on the MyCase docket once the Clerk enters the judgment. Booking records held by the Sheriff do not automatically update to reflect court outcomes — you need the court docket for that information.
Booking photos (mugshots) are generally public under Ind. Code § 5-14-3 in Indiana. For Rush County’s current policy on releasing booking photos with records requests, contact the Rush County Sheriff’s Office directly — the policy isn’t posted on the Sheriff’s website.
Docket entries visible on MyCase add attorney of record, bond amount set at first appearance, and scheduled hearing dates. The Sheriff’s booking record and the MyCase docket are complementary, not duplicative — a complete picture of an arrest requires checking both systems.
How to expunge an arrest record in Rush County
Indiana’s expungement law has been in effect long enough that many Rush County residents have already used it — petitioning to seal an arrest record is a routine legal procedure, and the courthouse staff at 101 East 2nd Street processes these filings regularly.
The controlling statute is Ind. Code § 35-38-9 (Indiana “Second Chance Law”). It covers several distinct situations, each with its own eligibility criteria.
Arrest with no conviction: If you were arrested in Rush County but never convicted — the charges were dropped, the case was dismissed, or you were acquitted — you may petition to expunge the arrest record one year after the arrest date. Dismissals and acquittals are expunged automatically by court order, though the order takes effect no sooner than 60 days after entry. You do not need to wait for the automatic process; you can also file a petition proactively after the one-year mark.
Misdemeanor conviction: A misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible for expungement five years after the conviction date, provided you have no intervening convictions and meet the other statutory requirements. The court must grant the petition if you qualify — it is not discretionary.
Class D or Level 6 felony conviction: The waiting period is eight years from the conviction date. As with misdemeanors, the court must grant a qualifying petition.
More serious felony convictions: The court may grant expungement after the later of eight years from conviction or three years from completing the sentence. This is discretionary — the judge weighs the petition. The most serious felonies require the prosecutor’s written consent in addition to meeting the time thresholds, which extend to ten years from conviction or five years from finishing the sentence, whichever is later.
Sex offenses, violent offenses, and official-misconduct offenses are excluded from Indiana’s expungement law entirely.
One practical constraint matters here: Indiana effectively gives each person one expungement petition per lifetime. All petitions in a given county must be filed together in a single filing. If you have multiple cases in Rush County, they go in one petition — you cannot file piecemeal. Getting the timing right before filing is important. Confirm the current statute text or ask the Rush County Clerk of Courts before submitting your petition.
Where to file: File your verified petition in the Rush County Circuit Court or Superior Court — whichever court handled the original case. The Clerk’s office at the Rush County Courthouse, 101 East 2nd Street, Rushville, IN 46173, accepts filings Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. A filing fee applies; the Clerk can confirm the current amount. An indigency waiver path exists if you cannot afford the fee — ask the Clerk about the fee waiver process.
Self-petition vs. attorney-assisted: Indiana’s expungement statute is written to allow self-represented petitions. Many people file without an attorney. That said, if your record involves multiple cases, a felony, or you’re unsure whether your offense is eligible, consulting an attorney before filing is worth the cost — a rejected petition can affect your one-lifetime opportunity. The Indiana Roll of Attorneys search and the Indiana Public Defender Council locator at Indiana Public Defender Council are the official paths for finding legal help.
What remains visible after expungement: Law enforcement agencies retain access to expunged records. The public — including private background-check databases — should not see a properly expunged Rush County arrest. MyCase removes the case from public search results. The practical effect is that the record is not accessible through the normal channels a private party would use.
Rush County arrest records — quick reference
| Resource | What it confirms | What it cannot confirm | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana MyCase | Court filings, charges, docket entries, dispositions, attorney of record for Rush County cases | Booking details, mugshots, arrests not yet filed in court, federal cases | Search by name or case number; no account required |
| Rush County Sheriff’s Office | Booking records, arrest date, arresting agency, charges at intake | Court dispositions, post-conviction outcomes | Submit a public records request; confirm current procedure on the Sheriff’s contact page |
| Rush County Clerk of Courts | Official case file, charging information, filed documents, expungement petitions | Booking-side records held by the Sheriff | Visit 101 E 2nd St, Rushville, IN 46173, Mon–Fri 8 AM–4 PM; credit cards accepted |
| Indiana Jail Public Portal | Current and recent jail custody status for Rush County Jail | Historical booking records, court case details | Search by name at public.indianajail.gov |
| Indiana Department of Correction offender search | IDOC state-prison custody and release records | County jail records, court docket entries | Search by name or IDOC number on the IDOC offender search tool |
| Nationwide criminal database search (above) | May help surface records from other states or records that pre-date MyCase’s online window | Cannot guarantee completeness; not a substitute for official county records | Use as a supplemental check after exhausting local portals |
- Rush County Sheriff’s Office — official records and law-enforcement contact information for Rush County.
- Rush County Clerk of Courts — official case filing, court records, and expungement petition intake at the Rush County Courthouse.
- Rush County Circuit Court — Circuit Court docket and contact information.
- Rush County Superior Court — Superior Court docket and contact information.
- Rush County Courts — Indiana Judicial Branch — Indiana Judicial Branch directory entry for Rush County courts, including phone numbers.
- Indiana MyCase — statewide public court records portal covering Rush County filings.
- Indiana Jail Public Portal — statewide jail custody lookup including Rush County Jail.
- Indiana Department of Correction offender search — IDOC state-prison custody records.
- Rush County Clerk — Pay by Credit Card — confirmed credit card payment option for Clerk transactions.
- Rushville Police Department — municipal law enforcement for the Rush County county seat.
Errors or outdated information? Submit a correction — we review and update within 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions about Rush County arrest records
How do I find out what bond was set on a Rush County arrest?
Bond amounts are set at the initial hearing and entered into the court docket by the Rush County Clerk. Search the case on Indiana MyCase — the bond entry appears in the docket chronology, typically within one business day of the hearing. If the case isn’t showing yet, call Rush County Circuit Court at 765-932-2078 or Rush County Superior Court at 765-932-3520 to confirm the bond amount by phone. The Rush County Clerk’s office at 101 East 2nd Street, Rushville, can also pull the case file in person during weekday hours.
How do I get a Rush County arrest record expunged under Indiana law?
Indiana’s Second Chance Law — Ind. Code § 35-38-9 — governs expungement in Rush County. If you were arrested but never convicted, you can petition after one year from the arrest date. A misdemeanor conviction becomes eligible five years after conviction; a Class D or Level 6 felony after eight years. File a verified petition with the Rush County Clerk of Courts at 101 East 2nd Street, Rushville, IN 46173. All Rush County cases must be included in a single petition — Indiana allows effectively one petition per lifetime, so confirm your eligibility with the Clerk or an attorney before filing. The Indiana Roll of Attorneys search and the Indiana Public Defender Council locator can help you find legal assistance if needed.
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